Confessions of a cold caller

Wilson – his name has been changed – spoke to LIBN about what’s going on at some high-pressure, high-cost fundraising firms.

Telefundraisers, he said, use predictive dialers that let computers do the calling. He hits a button and a voice is there. “We have to talk to 200 people before we find one sucker,” said Wilson, who said he spoke out because he feels guilty about doing this work. “You’ve got to talk to a lot of people before you get to some old lady who says she’d like to help.”

Wilson, who has also spoken with charity watchdog groups, sees his work as “finding a needle in a haystack.”

“That’s what keeps this industry viable,” he said. “You’ve got to talk to a lot of people before you get one sucker. It’s a numbers game.”

While many charities Wilson represented are small, he said he works for a company in the Midwest with dozens of offices and more than $100 million in revenue. Although callers won’t get rich fundraising, some callers, he said, do well. One made $900 the week we spoke.

“It’s young kids,” he said. “And prisoners in jail during the night who they let go to work during the day on work-release privilege.”

Wilson said telephone fundraisers do better in certain states, such as New York, with large elderly and immigrant populations.

“New York’s a good state to call,” he said.

“The state you want to avoid is Pennsyl-vania. Their charities bureau is very aggressive. They’ve got a number of investigators and they’re very proactive. They get complaints; they follow them.”

Although callers get scripts, Wilson said “the script is misleading. It’s inaccurate.” People are told the most popular gift is $50. “The most popular is not $50,” he said of one lie. “The most popular is about $20.”

But the business is built on omission as well as commission: Consumers rarely learn charities typically get only pennies on the dollar. “No one would give to the organization if they realized these guys were taking 85 percent,” he said.

Wilson said callers at his firm are rewarded for reeling in more donations, creating an environment ripe for untruths. “You have every incentive possible to lie,” he said.

When we spoke, Wilson said he was working on three cancer campaigns including one for a breast cancer group.

“They have a good standing in the public’s eyes,” Wilson said. “People are sympathetic to the plight of people afflicted with cancer.”

Cancer groups, he said, often sound familiar or have generic names easily confused with larger organizations.

“They try to make up a name that sounds similar to a big, legitimate one that has good standing,” he said. “My mom gives to these things. She gets four letters a day because she gives to these people.”

Wilson has misgivings about fast-paced phone fundraising, but believes charities justify it by saying they still get something.

“It’s money they wouldn’t have otherwise. That’s what the industry would argue,” he said. “We’re cutting you guys a check monthly that you wouldn’t have otherwise.”

But Wilson also thinks other charities pay the price. “It hurts legitimate causes,” he said. “People think everyone’s a crook and they don’t give at all.”